The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1887-10-07
No. 43
agricultural.
Wheat Culture.

Wheat Culture.
In many sections the labor of putting
in the wheat will be an important part
of the labor this month The ground
will need at least one more thorough
stirring with cultivator or harrow be
fore the seed is sown. 1t cannot be
made too mellow or be too finely pul-t
yerized for seed bed, and as each stir.
ring assists in terminating and destroy
ing the weed seed that lie dormant IL
the soil it will allow the plants to &c,
better growth before the weeds spring
up to choke them out, and give CLEANER
crops next year. No seed should be
used which has not been first carefully
screened and winnowed, for the remo-
val of foul stuff from it, and to take
out shrunken, light or imperfect seed
of any kind. 1t should then be treated
with brine, or with solution of vitriol
or sulphuric acid, to prevent the smut.
From the 10th to the 25th of this
month is the most usual time for SOW
ing, but it needs to 60 in earlier upon
cold lands than upon warmer soil,
and in northern regions earlier than
farther south also upon very light
soil it is well to delay the sowing, as
only certain amount of growth is de-
sirable before winter. 1t should be
remembered, however, that seed ger
inmates more slowly when a good super
phosphate is drilled in with it than
when stable manure is used to enrich
the land.
The usual amount of seed used is
from one bushel to five pecks to the
acre wnen drilled in, and about half
bushel more when sown broadcast, to
make up for loss Of seed by covering
too deep or not deep enough, proper
depth being about one and a half to two
inches. The more mellow the soil and
the more liable to surface drying the
greater depth of sowing should be. If
all seed could be placed at equal dis
tances apart, and equal depths, much
less amount of seed would be sufficient.
A Connecticut farmer soWed about two
hundred rods of drill with one quart OF
wheat, and harvested eight bushels, and
though t he would have had more if birds
and neighbors, to whom a wheat head is
a curiosity, could have been kept away
from it. AS there could be over 1900
rods of drill, one foot apart, in an acre,
it would require little over thirteen
quarts of seed, and yield equal to his
would give over hundred bushels per
acre: or fifty bushels per acre could be
grown in drills at two feet apart, from
six and half quarts of seed. We do
not advisd farmers to go so far as this
in the matter of light seeding. They
cannot all have old garden soil to SOW
their seed upon, nor give it garden cul-
tivation or the possibilities of light
seeding in good soil.
Rolling the ground after sowing the
seed also has tendency to cause the
plant to .'tiller out" so as to cover the
ground, and throw up numerous stalks
from each root. But when this is done
the land must be rich enough to carry
out the crops, even to the growth OF
grain. The use of a good supher-phos-
phate has been found to greatly stimu.
late the growth of wheat but the. differ
ence in phosphates is but imperfectly
understood even by those who have
used them for many years, and many
fail in the experiments because OF not
knowing how to adapt them to their
crops or soils. AS general rule, 1t
NAV be said that for this crop ammonia
or nitrogen increases the growth OF leaf
and stalk, and make it more rapid, po-
tash stiffens the straw and prevents the
lodging of the grain, and phosporic
acid makes plumper, heavier grain
and better flour. OF course each OF
these ingredients assist in other ways
but these hints may help the farmer to
improve his crop when he knows in
what particular he has failed in years
past.-Am Cult.